George t



(No Model.)

G. T.'CHAPMAN. HOOP SPREADER.

No. 476,732 y PatentedJune'Z 18912.

Fi g. 4.

. INVENTRL WITNESSES: /J/

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

THRE E FOURTHS TO W'ILLIAM HARVEY MERRITT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

HOOF=SPREADER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 476,732, dated June '7, 1892. Application filed May l, 1889. Serial No. 309,149. (No model.)

.To all wlw'm/ t may concern:

Beit known that I, GEORGE T. CHAPMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Vhite Plains, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Hoof-Spreading Tools, of which the followin gisa specification.

My invention consists of a pair of knucklejointed spreading-struts constituting a tool Io adapted for engaging the inner walls of the hoof close under the sole, so as to spread the hoof temporarily while nailing the shoe on the hoof and without interfering with the application of the shoe, and also being adapted I5 fora heel-expander to be worn temporarily, the objects being to secure the shoe with an expanding stress that will have a spreading tendency on the hoof in cases of contracted hoofs and to continue the expanding stress on zo the heel after the shoe is applied, all as here` inafter fully described, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a plan view ot my improved expander. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same with part of a hoof and a shoe in section, showing the mode of using the expander. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the bottom -of a shoe with the expanderiu position. Fig. t is a hind elevation of a hoof and side View of theinstrument 3o used as a heel-expander- Fig. 5 is aplan view of the expander made with the outer ends adapted for engaging' in the heel-clefts for use of the instrument as aheel-expander, and Fig. 6 is a plan view of a pair of blacksmiths tongs with attachments for manipulating the spreader.

I provide two fiat steel plaies a of suitable dimensions for the purpose, each having one large and preferably rounded end and for the 4o rest of the length being somewhat narrower and having the other ends beveled to make a prominent but not Very sharp biting edge b, and I connect the larger ends together by a strong rivet c, making a close pivot-joint preferably working with some friction, and

on the pivoted end of one of said struts I provide a stop-lug @,whichcomes in contact with the edge of the other strut when the axis of the pivot-joint passes slight] y beyond the line 5o between the two bearing-points of the outer ends of the arms and locks the expander in the extended position and holds it self-actingly while nailing on the shoe.

Such an expander ot proper range for the width ot thehoof ot' the casein hand inserted 55 between the inner walls ot the hoof, as indicated in Figs. l and 3, and extended to the longest condition,as in Fig'. 3, will, as is clearly shown, spread the hoof as desired and hold it so while nailing ou the shoe (l. 6o

To utilize the instrument for a l1eel-expander, I construct the struts with the outer portions offset upward, as at g, to reach up ward into the heel-clefts h of the hoof and with the ends l) turned parallel to the rest, and in this instance preferably notched so as to make pointed spurs. In this use of the instrument it will be inserted over the bar z' of a bar-shoe employed to prevent the instrument from dropping out, and the bar may 7o have a socket j to receive the projecting head 7.: of the joint pivot for better effect in pre venting the escape of the expander.

The instrument will be made in different lengths for hoofs of different sizes. 7 5 To operate the expander, a blacksmiths tongs having' a stud-pin, as f, in the side of one jaw and two others g near thc extremities of the other jaw may be conveniently used as a lever device for applying the force 8o necessary to extend the expander for eltecting the expansion of the foot and for subsequently disconnecting it.

XVhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- 85 l. The improved hoof-expander consisting of a pair of strut-plates jointed together side by side near one end suitably for extension by shifting the joint in the edgewise direction ot' the plates from an angular position of 9o the two plates relatively to each other into a right line between the outer extremities, `one of said plates having the stop-lug between the pivot and the outer extremity of the other plate and adapted to come to a bearing on said other plate when the pivot has passed slightly beyond said right line and lock the plates in the extended position, said strut-- plates having the outer extremities adapted to bite in the surfaces of the hoof above 10o the shoe.

2. The improved hoofexpander consisting of a pair of steel plates jointed together side by side near one end suitably for extension by shifting the joint in the edgewise direction of the plates from an angular position of the two plates relatively to each other into a right line between the outer extremities, one of said plates having the stop-lug between the pivot and the outer extremity of the other plate and adapted to come to a bearing on said other plate when the pivot has passed slightly beyond said right line and lock the plates in the extended position, said steel plates having the laterally-offset portions of the outer ends sidewise relatively to them, and the pointed extremities of said offset por- I 5 tions adapted to enter the heel-elefts and bite in the side Walls thereof, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name,in pres- 2o enee of two Witnesses, this 26th day of April, 1889.

GEO. T. CHAPMAN.

Witnesses:

W. J. MORGAN, A. P. THAY-ER. 

